The Next Shinobi
by Inuyashagrl101
Summary: The Next Generation Of Ninjas Have Arrived - Hikari Uzumaki, Kai Uchiha, And Reina Haruna. Although This Diverse Team Is On The Verge Of Hating Each Other, They'll Need To Work Together If They Want To Survive Their Toughest Mission Yet. Plz R&R! OCxOC
1. Chapter 1: Bad Blood

The Next Shinobi, Chapter 1

I stood frozen in place, my eyes glancing in every direction for any sign of movement. My ears listened for the slightest rustle of leaves as I drew my kunai from my thigh strap. Suddenly, I felt a presence fly at me from behind. My body whirled around and blocked the attack with my knife. "You're getting faster," Kai smirked, his face just inches from mine while our knives were in a deadlock between us.

I returned his cocky smirk. "And you're getting sloppy,"

His face dropped at my words as my body fell to the ground in a puddle. "A water clone," he gasped.

"That's right," I said in a sing-song tone. I darted at him from behind and grabbed his wrist, hurling him as hard as I could into the trees behind me. His body broke clean through the first trunk and slammed into a second one before collapsing to the ground in a heap. I quickly slapped my hands together and contorted them into hand signs. "Water style, mouth of the serpent!"

Kai was pushed back against the trunk as a wave shaped like a serpent's head crashed down onto him. I watched eagerly as the water retreated for his surrender.

"Not bad, Hikari," he chuckled, spitting water out as he spoke. He clapped his palms together. "But you're not good enough. Fire style, phoenix flower!"

A spiral of flame fired toward me so fast I could barely move in time. The flames singed my right shoulder, sending a searing shock of pain through my arm. I clasped my hand over the burn, wincing at the exposed under layer of skin. Before I could think of my next move, there was a kunai blade to my throat. "I win again,"

"Shut up, Kai," I spat, jamming my elbow into his ribs. He staggered backward and took a minute to catch his breath.

"Very good," Kakashi-Sensei nodded from his seat under an oak tree, his precious book in front of his face. "Hikari, you need to focus more on what's going on around you. Your injuries take a backseat until your opponent is taken down."

I sighed and nodded in understanding. "Reina, you're up next against Kai."

"Pfft, I don't think so," Reina scoffed, flipping her ebony locks over her shoulder. "I'm not getting all dirty and sweaty."

"Why'd you even become a ninja?" I wondered, the annoyance thick in my voice. "You're never any help, anyway."

"I do too help!" she retorted in her shrill, girly tone that pierced my ears like needles. "I'm a medical nin and without me you guys would've been dead a long tim ago."

"Somehow, I think we'd be fine," I fired back at her as I plopped down on the grass, giving my legs a much needed break.

Alright you two, that's enough," Kakashi intervened. "I guess if no one wants to go against Kai, then we're done for today."

"Fine by me," Kai muttered apathetically, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "I'm over fighting a girl, anyway. Besides, she's not even strong enough to beat me."

"Don't get ahead of yourself, Uchiha," I spat his name like poison on my tongue. "You're not your dad so don't go throwing around words."

"She's right," Kakashi agreed. "Her father _is _the Hokage, afterall."

"So what?" Kai shrugged, unimpressed. "My father's one of the most skilled ninjas the Leaf has."

"Ugh, can we leave already?" Reina whined. "These two are giving me a headache."

"Not a chance," I replied quickly, standing up again and preparing my hand signs. "If Kai thinks he's so strong then let's do a rematch."

Kai laughed loudly. "You want more, Uzumaki? Fine, let's do this."

"Water style, giant vortex!"

Kai and I breathed heavily as we laid on the evening grass. Every ounce of chakra was drained from my body; I'd never felt so limp and lifeless from a sparring session before. I could tell Kai was drained too by his lack of trash-talk. I rolled my head to the left and saw Reina leaning against a tree fast asleep and Kakashi-Sensei still reading. I rolled my head the opposite direction to look at Kai. "It's a tie," I breathed softly. I barely had the energy to talk anymore.

He smiled briefly. "No way, Uzumaki, you're still a loser."

I giggled gently. "Whatever, Uchiha, whatever."

"You two done yet?" Kakashi called over to us.

I staggered to my feet, my various burns stinging like hot irons with every move I made. "Yeah, we're done."

"Good, because you're going to have to replenish your chakra for tomorrow," he said, finally closing his book and standing. "Do you need help, Kai?"

"I'm fine," Kai replied. His voice quivered with pain as he stood and made his way over to us. He looked down at Reina. "There's no way we're waking _that _up."

Kakashi sighed heavily and took Reina on his back. "Let's get you home, we have a big day tomorrow."


	2. Chapter 2: Hide And Seek

The Next Shinobi, Chapter 2

I tied my hip-length hair up into its usual ponytail as I walked down the busy town street toward our normal training ground. Everyone I passed smiled and greeted me, some even bowing and calling me "Miss Hikari". Even though I felt awkward and sort of guilty that people respected me so much although I hardly did anything important, I smiled back and returned their warm demeanor. At least until a certain boy greeted me next. "_Miss_ Hikari, huh?" Kai laughed, tossing his bangs from his mossy green eyes.

"Don't be jealous just because I get recognized and you don't," I shot back at him, shrugging past him and continuing down the sidewalk.

"Please," Kai rolled his eyes as he walked next to me. "I don't need anyone's recognition."

"Then shut up and cut the attitude," I replied hatefully. Kai's insane superiority complex made my blood boil in my veins; everything that comes out of his mouth is about how he's so strong and that he doesn't need anybody. He's really just putting on an act so no one will get close to him, it makes me sick.

The rest of the walk was relatively silent besides the occasional squealing girl as Kai walked by.

"Nice of you to join us," Kakashi-Sensei said as Kai and I entered the clearing.

"Yeah, you two are late," Reina added, her hands on her mini-skirt clad hips.

"Oh, because you're the perfect student, right?" I raised my brow at her. This earned me an eye roll as she suddenly found her nails very interesting.

"Okay, now that we're all here, let's get started." Kakashi began. "You three need to learn to work with each other instead of working against each other."

"I don't want to work with them, though," Reina whined, still inspecting her manicure.

"You're going to have to if you're ever going to be able to handle a serious mission," Kakashi answered. "You would actually be much more effective if you learned how to stay hidden and attack your opponent from a distance."

"How can I do that?" Reina wondered. She seemed to almost _want _to learn something instead of just sitting around. I supposed she just liked the idea of being away from us.

Kakashi smirked at her sudden interest. "First, we need to get Kai and Hikari on the same page,"

"What do you mean?" I asked carefully, afraid of what his idea of "getting on the same page" was.

His smile grew wider as he pulled out some rope and fastened one of each of our legs together. "Now, your mission is to find my book for me,"

"You've _got _to be kidding," Kai sighed, looking down at our bound legs.

"It's somewhere in this forest and I'd love to have it before nightfall. Oh, and if you're not tied together the entire exercise, then you'll do it again." he said smugly. "And while you two are working together, Reina and I will be working on making her more useful."

Reina giggled and cast us a poisonous glare before turning and following Kakashi-Sensei deeper into the forest. "Have fun!" she cackled, disappearing beyond the trees.

As soon as they were out of eye shot, Kai began his hand signs. "I'll have us free in no time,"

"No!" I gasped. I threw myself into him, knocking both of us to the ground. "Do you _want _to do this again?"

"Well, I'm not staying tied to you all day!" Kai shouted back as he struggled to his feet with me in tow.

I took a deep breath in hopes of suppressing the thoughts of murdering him. "Look, we're going to be like this until we find that dammed book so we'd better start looking."

"How are we supposed to move with our legs tied together like this?" he asked, obviously trying to keep his temper in check. Tying two people who hate each other and have volatile tempers together wasn't Kakashi-Sensei's best idea.

"We have to work together and move our free legs opposite each other while moving our tied legs together." I explained. It sounded much easier then it looked.

Kai nodded and stepped with his free leg, mine following immediately after and our tied legs stepping together. One step down, a million more to go.

Finally after four hours of nonstop work, we'd figured out how to run together at our normal pace without breaking the rope. "Okay, let's look for that book," I declared confidently.

"Where do we start?" Kai asked with an exasperated sigh.

I thought for a minute. "Multi water clone jutsu!" - a plethora of clones formed around us - "Go scan the perimeter of the forest and tell us if you find that book. We'll handle the inside of the forest."

"Right!" the clones nodded in unison, dispersing throughout the forest.

"Alright, let's go,"

We searched every tree and looked under every rock but couldn't find Kakashi's book anywhere. "This is hopeless!" Kai growled angrily, throwing his free leg into the closest tree. It snapped in half and collapsed to the forest floor, a blue rectangle falling to the ground with it. Kai and I exchanged a glance before darting full-speed toward it. Just as my finger grazed the cover, a powerful gust of wind catapulted us a good twenty feet away from it again.

"That was way too strong to be natural," I winced as we got to our feet.

"It's Reina," Kai said, his eyes carefully scanning our surroundings. "She has a wind chakra nature and is training to attack from a distance."

"Kakashi's using her to keep us away from the book and she's using us as practice," I concluded. "We need to find out where they're hiding."

We looked around slowly, examining every tree and bush for the softest of movements. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the leaves on a bush about thirty feet from us rustle. "Fire style, phoenix flower jutsu!" Kai said, putting his fingers around his mouth and blowing out a spiral of fire. He completely scorched the bush but all that came from it was the smoke of a shadow clone being destroyed. "He's toying with us,"

"Then we'll toy with them," I grinned, calling back my water clones and sending them out to get the book. As I expected, Reina destroyed them as soon as they got close to the book, but this time the attack came from a different direction. "She's moving so we can't pin-point her location."

"Make more clones," Kai said. "We can try to run out just as the clones are getting close. She won't have enough time to attack us if we're fast enough."

I complied and created more clones. I sent them all out at the same time and just as the wind attack hit them, Kai and I flew out of the tree and straight for the book. I had it in my hand and right as the thought that we were home free crossed my mind, a shuriken came out of thin air and sliced my hand, forcing me to drop the book while a second one got a hold of Kai's shirt and pinned us to a tree. "Damn it," Kai muttered, pulling the shuriken from his shirt. We fell to the ground with a hard thud, the dirt making the gash in my hand sting like salt in a wound. "You okay?"

"Yeah, it's just a flesh wound," I replied as we jumped into another tree to regroup. "She's surprisingly good."

"I know," Kai agreed reluctantly. "But we're better."

"_We_?"

"Shut up, Uzumaki," he demanded, a slight grin creeping across his face.

"We need something to impair their vision," I suggested. "Aren't you working on a new jutsu with Kakashi-Sensei?"

"Yeah, but I haven't tested it yet," he answered. "I don't even know if it'll work."

"There's only one way to find out,"

"Fire style, burning ash!" Kai complied, a cloud of gray ash spewing from his mouth.

The ash consumed everything in its path, making it hard for even me see. I knew we had to do this quick because he'd run out of breath and as soon as he closed his mouth, the ash would ignite. We quickly launched from our branch and grabbed the book, sliding at least fifty feet from the sight as soon as we hit the ground from our speed. Once we stopped sliding, Kai closed his mouth, causing all of the ash to ignite into an inferno. "You get it?" he panted heavily. I smiled and held up the book.

"Not bad," Kakashi-Sensei nodded in approval as he and Reina hopped down from their hiding spot. "You two actually worked together for once."

"Yeah, yeah, can you untie us already?" Kai urged impatiently.

"Relax, Kai, it's only five o'clock," Kakashi grinned. "You two could use some more teamwork practice, so I want you to remain tied together and spar against Reina so she can practice her new training as well."

"I got you two good," Reina taunted as she crackled her knuckles. Her smug expression was enough to make me grind my teeth in aggravation.

Kai and I exchanged a brief side glance before getting into position. "Let's dance,"


	3. Chapter 3: Insight

**Episodes Mentioned in This Chapter**

**Naruto, Season 1 Episodes 13-19**

**Naruto, Season ? Episode 109**

The Next Shinobi, Chapter 3: Insight

"Alright, I think you three earned a night at home," Kakashi-Sensei smiled.

"_Now _can you untie us?" Kai whined. He was beginning to feel like another appendage and his constant whining drilled into my brain, making my head throb painfully whenever he opened his mouth.

"Okay, okay, calm down," Kakashi soothed as he untied our legs. "There, happy?"

"You have no idea," I mumbled under my breath before turning and heading home for the night.

"My baby girl!" my mother cried happily when I walked through the door. She threw her arms around me in a warm embrace that was impossible not to return. "It feels like it's been ages since you've been home!"

"It's only been three days, Mom," I giggled. I nearly had to pry her body from mine. "Kakashi-Sensei's been taking good care of us."

"I suspected he would," she smiled brightly. "He was your father's teacher, after all."

"He was?"

"Mhm," she hummed, accompanied by a subtle nod. "He trained your father well."

"How come dad never talks about Kakashi-Sensei or his teammates?" I wondered. I'd never even heard my father mention anything about his training days.

Mother sighed and shrugged. "I don't know, he's never even told me about his teammates or missions. I only know Kakashi was his teacher because I ran into him at the market awhile back and he told me how much you remind him of your father."

"Where is Dad?"

She nodded toward the stairs and resumed her work cleaning up after dinner. "He's upstairs. Try not to disturb him, he's had a long day."

I jogged upstairs, so curious about my father's past I could barely contain myself. My old, boring dad suddenly seemed so mysterious and interesting; it made my stomach bubble with anticipation of the great stories he could tell. "Dad?" I knocked lightly on my parents' bedroom door.

"Come in, Hikari,"

I obeyed and entered the room. The lights were off and he sat on the edge of the bed, staring out the window at the empty street below. The milky moonlight bounced off of his blond locks, the same locks that graced my head, and made them seem almost silvery. "You okay, Dad?"

He turned to me and smiled. "It's good to have you home. How's training going?"

"Fine," I answered. He seemed to be deep in thought, like I'd just pulled him back down from his own little world. I'd never seen him like this before, he seemed almost sad. "Kakashi-Sensei tied me and Kai together today to teach us to work together. It was awful,"

"I'm sure it wasn't that bad," he said softly, returning his gaze to the window.

"Dad, how come you never talk about your training days?" I asked boldly, sitting next to him on the bed.

There was a long pause before he replied. "It was a long time ago,"

"But don't you want to remember your friends? Your teammates? Kakashi-Sensei?" I countered. I attempted to be gentle and understanding, but I wanted to know about my father when he was my age and I was determined to learn just that.

His eyes glazed over, a thin layer of clear fluid that looked like the beginning of tears. "There are some things that are too painful to want to remember,"

"Like what?" I pushed, keeping my tone calm and even. "What can be _that _awful?"

Another long pause. "Come for a walk with me,"

I silently agreed and followed him out of the house and down the street. We walked together in a lull, the empty streets and silvery moon making everything that was so lively and vibrant in the daylight seem so lonely and sad; it was as if the atmosphere itself was crying. "My teacher was Kakashi," my father finally said after we walked all the way to town square. "I know he may seem annoying and like he doesn't know what he's doing, but he's preparing you for a real mission, one that may hold the lives of you and your teammates in its hand."

"Have you ever had a mission like that?'

"More then I can count," he chuckled without humor.

"What happened?" I wondered curiously. We were already past town square and half way to the best ramen shop in the Leaf.

He waited until we reached the ramen shop to speak again. "We used to come here all the time after training, it was my favorite place to eat."

"Who were your teammates?"

"Their names were Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruna, your teammates' parents, actually." he sighed. He made it sound like something horrible happened to them.

"Was Sasuke as arrogant as his son?" I scoffed, the mere thought of Kai making my stomach churn like a washing machine on overdrive.

He laughed softly and continued down the road. "You bet … I hated him with every fiber of my being. We were bitter rivals in every sense of the word and we always competed no matter what we were doing."

"Huh, he sounds just like Kai," I sneered. We were on the only road out of the village now.

"Oh, he was," Dad confirmed, his pace slowing. "But Sasuke and I always came through for each other when it really mattered. When it was life or death, we knew what was more important than out-doing each other - helping each other survive."

My eyes softened at his words. He spoke so highly of Sasuke even though they hated each other. I never thought my dad looked up to anyone, especially since everyone looked up to him, but it was obvious how much he really respected Sasuke, even if it took thirty years for him to admit it. "How'd you overcome all of that, though? You two couldn't stand each other, so why didn't you just take care of yourselves instead of worrying about the other?"

"When you see your comrade being thrown around like a rag doll and nearly being killed, all you can think about is helping them, even if it means taking the bullet for them." he explained. It sounded like he was somewhere far away again, his voice was distant and his eyes were deep and glassy.

I waited a moment before asking - "Did he die?"

He shook his head. "He almost did a few times, we all almost did…"

He paused for a minute, seemingly conflicted about what he was about to say. My father continued to tell me about a certain mission they performed when they were about thirteen or so. They were escorting a bridge builder from the Wave Country to the sight of the unfinished bridge but were intercepted by a ninja from the Village Hidden in the Mist named Zabuza. There was also a second ninja named Haku who had very special abilities such as an ice chakra nature and a secret jutsu that created a house of ice mirrors. Haku could travel through these mirrors at light speed and he trapped Sasuke and my father inside. He also created a barrage of ice needles that he threw at them continuously. My father passed out from his severe wounds and when he awoke, Sasuke was standing over him with needles sticking out all over his body. My father realized that Sasuke had saved him even though he was so injured he could barely move. Sasuke collapsed and told my father to never let his dream die. That was the first time he saw his teammate be fatally wounded. "Wow," was all I could say after he finished his story.

"You see, Hikari, when it's just you and your comrades, you need each other to stay alive. I never imagined Sasuke would be the one to save me, I guess it goes to show you that your team may surprise you. No matter how much they seem to hate you, they'll be the ones to save you from certain death." he said, his voice slow and controlled. It was almost as though he could burst into tears at any given moment.

I hadn't realized we'd stopped walking until the shock of my father's story wore off. "Why are we here?"

"This is the only road out of the village," he began. He sucked in a deep breath before continuing. "This is where my team changed forever…"

I listened intently as he launched into the story of Sasuke's leaving and his deal with the devil - Orochimaru. His other teammate, Sakura, was hit hard by Sasuke's decision and never seemed to fully recover from it. They tried everything they could to convince Sasuke to return to the Hidden Leaf, but he was just too power-hungry and nothing could convince him to come back; he couldn't even if he wanted to since he forfeited his freedom in exchange for the strength to avenge his clan and kill his older brother, Itachi. "Sasuke's son, Kai, has a huge burden on his shoulders since he is the only son and is now responsible for rebuilding the Uchiha Clan," Dad illustrated. "That's why he's also power-hungry. His father is probably telling him that he needs to be strong enough to protect the clan if anyone like Itachi were to resurface."

I was fascinated by the stories I was hearing. He'd never even told my mother what he was freely telling me right now; I supposed he was telling me all of this because he _hadn't _told anyone for so long. "Do you and Sakura and Sasuke still talk?"

"Sometimes, if we run into each other somewhere," he replied as we began walking back into the village. "You'll have a bond with your teammates forever, whether you like it or not."

I nodded as the same lull fell over us again as we headed home. That night, I didn't sleep; the stories my father shared with me haunted my every thought. I couldn't begin to imagine everything he's been through at suck a young age, everything he said was so detailed as if it happened yesterday. I even began to see Kai in a new light; maybe he was a major jerk because his father puts so much pressure on him. Or maybe he puts so much pressure on himself to be a total power house that he doesn't want anyone to be close to him because he doesn't want to get distracted. Ir maybe he thinks he has nothing to lose if he doesn't let anyone in.

I rolled over and stared into the darkness. No matter how much I hated him, I couldn't help but feel sorry for Kai and how much pressure in on his shoulders to rebuild his clan; I couldn't imagine being in his shoes. It almost made me want to be nicer to him although I knew he wouldn't accept it. I could feel my eyelids sagging under the pressure of exhaustion, the dim sunlight of dawn notifying me that it was time to leave for training again. _I have to get up, _I told myself weakly. It was getting harder to keep my eyes open with every minute that ticked by. _I have to get up and train… _

Before another thought could cross my mind, unconsciousness washed over me and dragged me into the deep, dark waters of sleep.


	4. Chapter 4: It's Time

The Next Shinobi, Chapter 4: It's Time

"Uzumaki!" a fuzzy voice said, it sounded almost angry. "C'mon, we have a lot of shit to do today!"

My mind groggily awakened, my eyes fluttering open to the sight of Kai standing at the foot of my bed. "It's about time you woke up,"

"What are you doing here?" I asked, my voice heavy and distorted from sleep.

"Kakashi-Sensei sent me to get you while he trains with Reina some more, said we had errands to run." he shrugged.

My eyes widened as the realization hit me like the full force of the phoenix flower. "We were supposed to be at the clearing at dawn,"

Kai smirked. "Let's go before Kakashi gets madder at you,"

I hauled myself out of bed, shoved Kai out of my room, and got dressed all before I could take a breath. I bolted down the stairs as fast as my legs could carry me and met up with Kai again outside. "Okay, let's go."

"Slow down there, turbo," Kai chuckled, hopping down from the old stone wall that rested outside of my house. "He never said when we had to be back, breathe will ya?"

I stopped for a second and took a quick breath. "Happy?"

He rolled his eyes before turning and starting down the road toward town square. "Whatever, loser,"

I followed close behind him, remembering how much I learned last night from my father - well, how much I thought I learned, anyway. "What errands do we have to run?" I asked gently. It was almost painful to try and be somewhat civil to him, but I forced myself to cooperate.

He took his hand out of his pocket and tossed me a crumpled piece of paper. "He gave us a list. I figured you could handle it since you're a girl and all; well, sort of."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I narrowed my eyes at him. _Did he seriously just say I was sort of a girl? _

He grinned in his usual cocky fashion. "Let's just hope you're better at shopping than you are at fighting,"

I ground my teeth together and smoothed out the list in pure aggravation. This whole "being civil" thing was going to be a lot harder than I'd first thought. "Did he give us any -"

"Yes, twenty questions, he gave us money," Kai interrupted harshly. "Are you done interrogating me now?"

I sucked in the deepest breath my lungs could manage to hold, my blood like molten lava in my veins. "Whatever, let's just get this over with." I breathed angrily, shrugging past Kai and stalking down the road toward the market place. The rest of the morning, we didn't speak to each other, we hardly looked at the other until we got to the clearing.

"It's nice to see you, Hikari," Kakashi-Sensei greeted me as we entered the clearing. "Have a nice morning?"

"Yeah, wonderful," I groaned as I threw the bags that lined my arms on the ground in a heap. "What's all of this for, anyway?"

"We have a mission,"

Before either of us could say anything else, Kai decided to toss a fireball jutsu up into the very top of a nearby tree, accompanied by a shrill scream and a hard thud.

"Was that necessary?" Kakashi sighed heavily. "You know she's new at this whole fighting business."

"Then I'm actually helping her," Kai spat icily. "The enemy isn't going to take it easy on her just because she decided not to train until two days before a mission."

"That hurt!" Reina screeched as she stepped out from behind the trees. She had a few small burns, but nothing substantial; they hardly looked like scratches. She was lucky Kai didn't aim straight for her like he does when he and I spar, she would've been burnt to a crisp.

"Aw, poor baby," Kai cooed sarcastically. "Grow up, already. You're so weak it's unbearable."

The look on Reina's face almost made me feel bad for her. Her cheeks faded to a bright shade of scarlet, her fists clenched, and a single tear rolled down her face. Reina had finally cracked. "Just because your father's powerful doesn't give you the right to be a jerk! You're not him so stop thinking you're so much better than everyone else, you're not even close to him! I'm surprised he hasn't cut you down to size yet! I can't wait for this mission because first chance I get, I'm making sure you're taught a lesson!" she exploded, falling to her knees and holding her face in her hands.

I'd always known Kai was a major jerk - he torments me every chance he gets - but tormenting Reina was a whole new ballgame. I didn't even _like _her and yet I was never this horrible to her, it made me hate Kai that much more. I slapped my palms together and performed my hand signs as fast as I could. "Water style, giant vortex!" I yelled fiercely. My biggest, most powerful vortex I'd ever seen my chakra create swept over Kai, sucking him into the center of the angry, swirling waters; I could barely sense where he was in the vortex at all.

"Hikari!" Kakashi-Sensei scolded, his eyes wide. I'd never seen Kakashi-Sensei panic until now. "That's enough! You're going to kill him!"

I ignored his demands until I couldn't sense Kai's body at all anymore, not even his chakra was detectable. I dropped my hands and the water dissipated, leaving an unconscious and soaked Kai lying on the grass. Kakashi ran over to check on Kai while Reina made her way over to me. "Thanks," she murmured, rubbing her icy blue eyes with the back of her hand.

"Don't get used to it," I replied, sending her a brief smile.

"Well, he's alive but completely taken out," Kakashi informed us, casting me a harsh glare. "I know you three don't get along, but you need to at least try."

"Tell Kai that," I fired back hotly. "He's the one who's always picking fights with us and you're the one who taught us to never back down."

"I know, but you two need to try and be civil to him, he's an important part of this team and you need to work together if you're -"

"If we're ever going to survive, yeah, yeah, I know," I rolled my eyes. I was so done hearing about teamwork and how we're never going to make it on a real mission if we don't work together; Kai's the one who won't give us a chance so why should we give him one?

Kakashi sighed. "I'll talk to Kai when he comes to," - concern laced his voice like oil on water. I wasn't sure if he was worried about Kai or about us going on this mission but I had a feeling it was a little of both. "It's time to become a team, not three kids fighting each other instead of the enemy."

"Well, what do we do now?" Reina wondered, sounding like a scared child.

"You two keep yourselves busy, I'll wait for Kai to come back to us."

I nodded and waited for him to get out of ear shot before turning toward Reina. "Want to talk?"

She pursed her glossy lips for a minute. "Don't think we're friends just because of this little incident. I still don't like you," she said, her eyes hardening again and her usual princess demeanor returning.

"Whatever, don't expect me to bail you out whenever you're too weak to fight for yourself," I shot back at her, heading deeper into the forest. _So much for being a team._


	5. Chapter 5: The Mission

The Next Shinobi, Chapter 5: The Mission

I sat by the river that ran through the middle of the forest, skipping rocks across the still water as the summer birds sang their cheerful song. "Hey,"

I immediately recognized that voice. "What do you want?" I muttered without even bothering to turn around. _He finally came to. _

"That wasn't cool, what you did back there," - Kai swallowed hard - "but I deserved it. I was angry at other things and I took it out on everyone else."

"You did deserve it," I agreed as I threw another rock across the water. "But you were sort of right, the enemies aren't going to take it easy on her - on any of us."

"So, truce?" he proposed awkwardly.

I knew being somewhat personable wasn't his forte in any respect, so I just nodded. "I suppose Kakashi wants to tell us about this mission now?"

"Yeah, so hurry up, loser!" Kai chuckled from somewhere in the forest.

I rolled my eyes. _He'll never change._

"Alright, now that we're all calmed down, let's talk about this mission," Kakashi-Sensei began. "It's an S-rank mission and I insisted that we take it on to give you three a chance to _really _work together in an extremely hostile situation,"

I swallowed hard; an S-rank mission was guaranteed to be lethal and there was a chance that we might not make it back. I forced my mind to focus on what Kakashi-Sensei was saying even though my heart was resting on my stomach.

"There's been word of an attack on the Hidden Waterfall, the village barely survived and the assailants are likely to go back and finish the job. We've been hired to intercept and destroy the enemy, got it?"

"Yeah, let's go already," Kai groaned impatiently. He actually sounded _excited _that we were being thrown into the lion's den.

Kakashi-Sensei turned to Reina and I. "Are you two ready?"

I glanced at Reina and nodded. "Panic" was written all over her face; her body was rigid, her fists were clenched, and her eyes were wide - she looked like a frightened rabbit. I'd never seen someone look so scared before but she tentatively nodded, nonetheless. "Good, let's move out, we've got a lot of ground to cover."

We traveled all day and not one single eventful thing happened; the highlight of the day was running into a stupid rabbit. The four of us sat around the campfire, Kai staring off into the sky, Reina fast asleep on the grass, and Kakashi-Sensei reading his book. I sighed heavily and sat up. "Do we even know what path the enemies are taking?"

"We're on it," Kakashi-Sensei answered, his eyes glued to the page. "Be patient, we'll run into them sooner or later."

I sighed again and laid back down on the warm grass, the heat from the fire intensifying the already hot summer night. The night sky was perfectly clear, the moon hung high on the black velvet sky and was surrounded by millions of sparkling stars; it looked like a scene straight out of a movie. "Uzumaki,"

"Yeah?" I replied hesitantly, stunned that Kai was _willingly_ talking to me.

"Tell me something,"

My brows furrowed in confusion as I leaned up on my elbows. "Okay?"

"Has your dad told you anything? Like, about my dad?" Kai asked, still looking into the sky like it held some sort of secret that he could just barely see.

"Some things," I shrugged. "Has your dad said anything about mine?"

He returned the shrug before curling up on the grass and rolling over so he was facing away from me. "Some things,"

I waited for a few minutes to see if he was going to say anything else, but all I was answered with was silence. When there was no other noise left besides the crackling of the wood on the fire, I suspected he'd fallen asleep.

The next morning was the hottest day we'd experienced all summer long, the humidity was near unbearable. "This is so disgusting," Reina whined as she held her long tresses above her head.

"Do you want to tie your hair up?" I offered her one of my spare hair ties.

"And get a huge crease in my hair? I don't think so," she scoffed, turning away from me and letting her hair back down.

"Fine, sweat to death, see if I care," I mumbled under my breath. My clothes stuck to my body from the enormous amount of sweat that leaked from my pores like garden hoses, making it sticky and uncomfortable to move. It also made it even more noticeable when the air suddenly became cool and damp, beads of water clung to any exposed skin. We all froze in place and got into our routine defense formation.

"Aw, look at the cute Leaf ninjas," a disembodied voice purred as the atmosphere thickened and became misty. It was getting increasingly difficult to see with every second. "What game should we play with them, Chizuko?"

I tried to remain calm but this woman's voice sent chills up and down my spine, I was sure they could hear my heart pounding against my ribcage. "Hm, I don't know, Mari," a second voice responded. "Let's let them decide."

"Reina, go now!" Kakashi-Sensei commanded. "Remember what we practiced!"

"Right," Reina nodded, a gust of wind signaling her exit.

"Aw, one of them ran away," the first voice, named Mari, whimpered. They both sounded like lost children. "Looks like they want to play hide and seek,"

"Oo, that's one of my favorites!" Chizuko squealed excitedly, the smile in her voice obvious. "I call the blonde one!"

My body instantly tensed as I pulled my kunai from my thigh strap. The thick mist that surrounded us impaired my vision and made it almost impossible to see where these voices were coming from, they almost seemed like ghosts. "Found you," a voice whispered in my ear followed by a hard kick to the left side of my face. I flew into the mist and tumbled across the ground, my jaw throbbing from the intense pain that flooded my body.

"Hikari!" Kakashi-Sensei called, he and Kai now invisible beyond the haze. "Are you all right?"

I stumbled to my feet and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. "I'm fine,"

"Found you again," she giggled from behind me. I launched myself into the atmosphere in an effort to dodge the impending attack, only to be hit on my back so hard, it sent me back to the ground in half a second. I moaned in pain as I peeled my body out of the fresh crater it created, my spine aching like it was shattered. "You're bad at this game," she huffed, a figure appearing before me for the first time. She seemed to be a few years older than me by her height and body type with long, auburn pigtails cascading down her back. She wore a short dress and had her fists and calves heavily taped up with a headband tied around her forehead that bore the symbol of the Hidden Mist. "You need to learn how to hide better."

Just as I was ready to make my move, a body was thrown into my side and sent both of us crash landing into a tree. "Thanks for breaking my fall, Uzumaki," Kai smirked as he slowly got to his feet. He had a few nasty gashes on his arms and a small one on his cheek; I figured this character, Mari, liked sharp objects instead of more physical attacks like Chizuko.

"Yeah, no problem," I retorted, quickly creating as many clones as I could with the water that made up the mist. My clones hardly made a dent in the thick fog.

"Oo, maybe you will be fun, after all," Chizuko said giddily.

"You got the fun one!" Mari pouted, her body now appearing as well. She was about the same size as Chizuko but sported a short, black bob and what seemed to be an armored outfit. She held a long thin sword to her lips, licking the edge of the blade that dripped with blood; I supposed it was Kai's. She was going to be hard to get at.

Kai chuckled shortly. "You want fun? Fine, let's have some fun; fire style, fireball jutsu!"

In the bright light that Kai's jutsu cast, I could barely see through the haze to where Chizuko and Mari were hiding. _They're not as good at this game as they think._


	6. Chapter 6: Fanning The Flames

The Next Shinobi, Chapter 6: Fanning The Flames

I squinted into the dense fog in an attempt to locate Chizuko and Mari. I could just barely see two fuzzy outlines shrouded in the mist, the light from Kai's jutsu allowing me to see through the first few layers of it. I hastily sent my clones after the outlines, Mari dodging and destroying them with ease while Chizuko seemed to have some trouble. Her rough physical attacks were extremely powerful when fighting an opponent one-on-one but with a mob of clones, she fumbled around sloppily unlike Mari's graceful sword attacks. Kai's jutsu ran out just as my clones wrestled Chizuko to the ground. Before the mist could thicken up again, a wind attack tore through it and tossed a body away from where we last saw Chizuko. I guessed Mari tried to help her and Reina actually helped us for once. "Chizuko!" Mari shouted, distress and concern lacing her tone.

Suddenly, a loud shriek ripped through the haze and vibrated painfully against my eardrums. Chizuko emerged from the mist holding her right arm as blood oozed between her fingers. "You little brat! How _dare _you lay your hands on me!" she screamed angrily, charging straight toward me. I didn't bother bracing for the impact, I just stood still and relaxed as her fist punched a hole right through my stomach. Blood poured from the enormous wound and formed a puddle on the ground that soon turned brown and muddy.; the shock on her face was almost laughable. "A substitution jutsu,"

"Too slow," I smirked as I tackled her, nearly slicing her throat before she rolled and kicked me over top of her.

"You're getting faster," Chizuko giggled, throwing punches in every direction. Although she was insanely fast, it began to feel like she was getting slower with every move she made. I suspected I was already accustomed to her fighting style.

"And you're getting sloppy," I replied, dodging her attempts fairly easily. As she threw her next punch, I zeroed in on her unguarded clavicle and launched my fist into the bone as hard as I could.

She let out another shrill scream as she tumbled backward, her clavicle now shattered and sticking through her skin. Just as I was getting ready to make my next move, Kai let out another fireball jutsu that once again illuminated the misty atmosphere. At the same time, one of Reina's wind jutsus ripped through the mist and collided with Kai's fireball, expanding the flames upward and nearly dispersing the mist. I took advantage of the lapse in their mist jutsu and darted toward Chizuko. I swallowed hard and held my breath as I held out my kunai, sliding the blade across her throat smoothly. The amount of blood that gushed from the wound was sickening, it took me a few seconds to settle my stomach once again.

"Reina, what the hell?" Kai growled as the mist replenished itself. With only Mari left, the mist was only half as strong as before. This made it much easier to see since half of the chakra that controlled the jutsu was destroyed.

"No!" I interrupted him. "That was good, do it again!"

"What are you getting at -"

"Just shut up and do it!" I yelled fiercely. Mari's figure was rapidly approaching and I needed clear vision if I hoped to dodge her sword. Kai's fireball flooded the field and cut straight through Mari's path. Unable to see through the line of fire, I jumped into the air just as Reina cut her wind jutsu loose. The air from Reina's jutsu fed the flames from Kai's jutsu and spread them upward, the huge amount of light slicing through Mari's veil of mist. While Mari was temporarily blinded by their combined jutsus, I came down on her hard and wrestled her to the ground. She had numerous burns all over her body from Kai's attacks and also suffered wire cuts from being sliced or bound by his steel wires. Without a second thought, I thrust my kunai blade into her stomach and twisted it to be sure I hit her vital spot.

"That was my favorite outfit," Mari choked out. The outfit only appeared to be armored, it was really only regular cloth made to look like metal to be more intimidating.

"Sorry, I stained it," I replied as I yanked my knife from her gut and positioned it next to her throat. I sucked in another deep breath and closed my eyes as I pushed the blade into her jugular, the blood spilling onto my hands. I waited until the strangled gurgling slowly softened and finally stopped all together to reopen my eyes. Her now-empty onyx irises stared up at me devoid of all life and emotion, boring into me until they were ingrained in my mind. It took me a few minutes to collect myself enough to get to my feet again.

"You guys okay?" Kakashi-Sensei asked as he and Reina came down from their hiding place. He must've been helping her throughout the fight since she seemed so scared before.

"I'm fine," Kai replied even though his cuts were still bleeding profusely. "You okay, Uzumaki?"

I nodded mutely, looking down at my blood-soaked hands. It didn't matter that they tried to kill us, Chizuko and Mari were still so young and had their entire lives ahead of them and _I _murdered them. "It's okay Hikari," Kakashi soothed. "You can let it out."

I shook my head and blinked back the tears that threatened to spill over "I'm okay, let's just get out of here."

We traveled until sunset before we set up camp for the night. I immediately headed for the stream near camp and scrubbed my hands in the icy water until they were raw. The dried blood wouldn't come off of my skin, it seemed like it was fused to me as an everlasting reminder of the young girls I'd killed. "Come off, already!" I yelled in frustration, scrubbing my hands so hard they began to burn.

"Hikari," Kakashi-Sensei said softly as he rested a hand on my shoulder. "It's gone, you can stop now."

"But I can still _feel _it," I said through tight lips. I continued to rub at my palms, the first layer of skin beginning to peel off from the friction. "It's still on me, it won't come off!"

"Hikari," he repeated, grabbing me by the shoulders and tearing me away from the water. "It's gone."

I looked at him for a minute then back down at my hands. They were red and chapped with a layer of skin missing in some places, but they were clean. "I _actually _killed them," I whispered.

Kakashi nodded. "It had to be done or they would've killed you,"

I turned my gaze back to him, my vision blurry and shoulders quivering. "I know,"

There were a few moments of silence before I collapsed into his chest and finally did something I hadn't done in years. I cried.


	7. Chapter 7: An Act of God

The Next Shinobi, Chapter 7: An Act of God

I could feel everyone's eyes burning into me as I ate my noodles around the campfire. I sighed and put down my bowl. "What are you all staring at?"

"Nothing, nothing," Kakashi-Sensei said quickly, returning his attention to his food.

"Are you _sure _you're all right?" Reina asked with a mouthful of noodles.

I raised my brow at her. "Do you actually _care_?"

She shrugged. "It's just that it could've been really bad if we - well, you - didn't put those girls down. You didn't do anything wrong."

I smiled. She seemed surprisingly genuine for the first time since I met her, it was a refreshing change of pace.

"You all did great today," Kakashi-Sensei chimed in. The pride and approval in his tone spread a huge grin across my face. "I'm very proud of you."

The rest of dinner was spent in a comfortable silence, Reina falling asleep quickly as usual with Kakashi-Sensei following soon after. The crackling of the fire was accompanied by the soothing chirps of the summer crickets as Kai and I sat in silence. "You were awesome today," I finally said, looking into the star-filled sky as I spoke. "I couldn't have brought those two down without you."

He chuckled softly. "Yeah, don't mention it,"

It was quiet for a minute before he continued. "Reina was right, you didn't do anything wrong."

"I know," I sighed. "I just never thought killing someone would be this hard."

"It'll get easier," Kai said faintly; it actually seemed like he was trying to _comfort _me. "It's kill or be killed out here and this is how things have to end."

"And how do you know so much about this?" I wondered, looking at him for the first time.

"I just do," - was his answer. We were quiet again as he stared into the fire, a few of his bandages soaked through with blood. "We should change your bandages,"

He shrugged apathetically. "It can wait until the morning,"

"They'll get infected," I said as I got out the first-aid kit and scooted closer to him. "Just relax and let me change them."

"I'm fine," he assured me through tight lips, scooting away from me.

"Would you stop being so stubborn and let me change them?" I insisted as I reached out for the bloody bandage that graced his bicep.

His hand grabbed my wrist just as my index finger brushed his arm. "Hikari, I'm fine," he repeated. His eyes were gentle as he held my gaze for a few long seconds. This was the first time he'd called me Hikari since we met when we were five years old and he sounded almost sweet as he spoke. "You've done enough today."

I took my hand back and opened the kit. "Kai, please, just let me change them."

He sighed heavily and reluctantly held out his arm. I smiled in a silent victory as I carefully unwrapped the used bandage around his bicep. The cut was so deep I could see his muscles tense from my touch; it seemed like he was trying to restrain himself. I ignored it and assumed he was still in a great deal of pain. "She got you good,"

"She got you good, too," Kai murmured, brushing my hair away from my jaw. Chizuko's kick to the face left an ugly purpling bruise that extended from my chin to my ear, it still throbbed when I thought about it.

I smiled shortly and subtly moved away from his touch. "She got you a lot better," I said as I rewrapped the wound and turned my attention to the gauze pad on his cheek. It was also damp with blood. "May I?" I asked carefully, reaching for the tape that held the pad on his skin.

He nodded and lifted his head. I gingerly peeled the pad from his cheek, the shallow cut red with irritation and obviously still sore by the way he flinched when I dabbed some healing ointment on it. "Sorry," I apologized as I taped another gauze pad over the cut.

"Thanks," he said almost inaudibly, casting me a glancing smile.

I nodded and packed up the kit, reclaiming my spot on the grass. "You going to sleep?" Kai asked abruptly.

I shook my head; I was too afraid to sleep, I could barely close my eyes without being haunted by those lifeless onyx irises that were forever ingrained in my memory.

"Found you," a man growled as he emerged from the surrounding forest, accompanied by an snarling gray wolf. He wore what looked like wolf fur and sported huge claws and a long dark ponytail that doubled as a tail.

"Who the hell are you?" Kai demanded, instinctively pulling out his shuriken stars. In the blink of an eye, two more men appeared and bound Kakashi-Sensei and Reina so they couldn't move. They also brought wolves to discourage them from trying to escape.

"The name's Taro," the man replied, his eyes fixed on me. "And I'm here to avenge my younger sister, Mari, the girl you murdered."

My blood instantly ran ice cold when those words registered in my mind. Taro glared darkly at me, his irises exactly matching those of Mari, as his lips peeled back in a fierce growl. I could feel the anger and sorrow roll off of him in waves, swirling together into a monsoon of blood lust and rage.

"How'd you manage to find us?" Kai asked, slowly getting into fighting position.

"I could smell Mari's blood all over her," - he pointed at me - "Mari and I also came from a small clan in the Hidden Mist that descended from wolves, giving all of us a special ability; we can exchange memories and emotions. This morning, I received Mari's last moments, all of them littered with images of her!"

Without warning, Kakashi's body bursted into a cloud of smoke while Kai threw his shuriken stars at Reina, slicing the rope. Kakashi appeared behind one of the men and knocked him out cold with a single blow, sending everyone into an all-out brawl. Taro sprinted past Kai and threw a hard kick that I barely dodged. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the wolves tackle Kai just as he was about to blow them away with his fireball jutsu.

"You'd better start paying attention!" Taro yelled as he darted past me, a sharp pain coursing through my shoulder. He smirked in satisfaction and crackled his knuckles, his sharp claws coated with blood. In a split second, he ran past again and left more deep cuts all over my body. In the matter of a minute, thin streams of blood drizzled down my arms and legs. My entire body was frozen, the fact that Mari's death was coming back to haunt me was too much for my brain to handle, it wouldn't tell any of my body parts of move - I couldn't even defend myself against this guy. "You're not nearly as strong as you appeared when you slit my sister's throat," Taro grinned devilishly. He was way too fast for me to even attempt to keep up with his attacks and with Mari's death fueling his resolve, he was one hundred times more focused on killing me than I was on even hurting him. I braced myself as he came in for the kill.

"Wind style, dance of blades!" Reina said from behind me. Sharp blades of wind fired at Taro, knocking him backward and cutting him up almost as badly as I was. "C'mon, Uzumaki, fight!" she urged before being mauled by one of the wolves.

"Stupid child," Taro spat as he got to his feet and headed straight for Reina, kicking me out of the way as he did. I wobbled to my feet as he lifted Reina up by her hair so she was dangling in front of him. "Want to play, little girl?"

_This is my chance. _"Yeah," I replied, performing my hand signs rapidly. "Let's play! Water style, mouth of the serpent!" I smirked, the serpent hitting his body through two tree trunks before it finally receded. Reina fell to the ground with a thud, the wolf coming back for more. She grabbed it by its leg and threw it as hard as she could over toward Kai who torched all three of them with his jutsu.

"You little brat!" Taro thundered, charging at me full-speed. Just as his fist came in contact with my face, my body dropped to the ground in a puddle. "You think your pathetic clones will save you?" he laughed, whirling around in search of the real me.

"Up here," I sang from my seat on a tree branch. "Come and get some."

Taro let out another ferocious roar as he charged for me. Kai smirked as he slid out in front of the tree, his final hand sign complete. "Fire style, phoenix flower jutsu!"

The flames spiraled toward Taro and completely consumed him. Another loud roar tore through the air as his figure disintegrated into the hungry flames. We all panted heavily and watched as the flames died, nothing but a pile of burnt fur left of Taro and his wolves. I sighed in relief and jumped down from the branch. "Thanks," I mumbled to Kai before falling to my knees. The pain from the countless cuts hit me like a tidal wave, blood still leaking from the numerous wounds.

"We need to get out of here before anyone else decides to join the party," Kai said as he took my arm and wrapped it around his shoulders to help me walk.

"Alright, let's move," Kakashi-Sensei agreed, taking Reina on his back. She was hurt a lot worse than she seemed; her entire right arm was torn up and bloody from the wolf attack and she had some puncture wounds from its sharp canines. I was shocked that she built up the strength to throw it like she did.

"You're willingly helping me?" I laughed weakly as we headed into the forest to find a new campsite for the rest of the night. "It must be an act of God."

Kai chuckled and rolled his eyes. "Shut up,"

"You know, you're an amazing fighter," I whispered so only he could hear. "I'm really glad you're on my team."

He seemed taken aback for a minute or two. "You are too and if you tell anyone about this, I'll personally murder you," he warned, a half smile playing with the corners of his mouth.

"Same to you," I smiled before finally being dragged under by unconsciousness.


	8. Chapter 8: Water

The Next Shinobi, Chapter 8: Water

I groaned as I opened my eyes, the sound of running water filling my ears. "You're finally awake," Kakashi-Sensei smiled down at me as he placed a damp cloth on my forehead.

"Where are we?" I mumbled, leaning up on my elbows. Pain shot through every part of my body in one swift strike that made me grind my teeth to muffle the yelp tht nearly escaped my mouth.

"Don't move!" Kakashi-Sensei gasped, gently pushing back until I was lying down again. "The scratches were worse than they first seemed, it took an hour to stop the bleeding, so you might want to stay still for a little while."

I sighed and nodded in understanding. We were on a flat rock on the bank of a fairly large river that flowed away from a tall waterfall, the light mist from the cascading water cooling the sizzling summer heat. "Where's Kai and Reina?"

He motioned to my right. Reina laid out on the grass about ten feet from me, her arm heavily bandaged. "She's going to need a few more days to recover completely. That wolf _really _made a meal of her arm but her medical ninjutsu has definitely been helping her recover faster."

"And Kai?"

"He's been out training all day," Kakashi replied. He began to remove the countless bandages that littered my entire body, all of them caked with dried blood.

My brows furrowed together. "Training?"

He nodded. "I mentioned that the three of you would really be lethal if you could create an original, ultimate jutsu that combined all of your chakra natures in one and he got a little excited and went to perfect his jutsus."

"But how can we combine all of our natures when we all cancel out the other?" I wondered confusedly. Kai has a fire chakra nature, Reina has a wind nature while I possess the water nature; water beats fire and fire beats wind.

"That's true," Kakashi-Sensei agreed. "But if you added my lightning nature, it could round it out."

My eyes instantly lit up. "We could create _two _jutsus instead of one if you and I created one and Kai and Reina created one, too!"

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," he chuckled. "Your wounds are still pretty bad and besides, inventing original jutsus isn't exactly easy."

"You invented the chidori," I countered. "And these are just little scratches, I'll be fine, let's just get started!"

"You definitely are your father's daughter," he smiled in what looked to me like admiration.

"Yeah, yeah, hurry up so we can start," I pushed impatiently. I fidgeted in anticipation and waited until he was done replacing all of my bandages before I tried to stand up. I bit my bottom lip in a feeble attempt to stifle the intense pain that hit me like lightning bolts, forcing it to the back of my mind and very slowly getting to my feet. "Okay, what's first?"

"We need to get you to be able to build up, release, and control a huge amount of chakra and maintain it without flushing your entire network," he explained. "You can already build it up and release it since most of your water style jutsus take a huge amount of chakra to create, now we just have to teach you how to maintain that power without tiring you out and how to fully control it."

"How do we do that, exactly?" I asked. All of this sounded like something that would take years to fully master, I only have a few days.

"I want you to attack me with your mouth of the serpent jutsu," he said calmly.

"What?" I stammered, stunned that he was actually telling me to attack him.

"Attack me," he repeated slowly. "Unless you want to be shown up by Kai and Reina's jutsu,"

"They've _never_ shown me up," I protested.

"Just last night they did," he shrugged. My jaw immediately clenched. "You were all frozen up while Reina and Kai had to swoop in and rescue you. Maybe I overestimated your potential,"

Every word that came out of his mouth made my blood boil; if he wanted an attack, he was getting one. "Water style, mouth of the serpent!" I said through tight lips, my hands so tense they shook. The water serpent let out a vicious roar as it aimed for Kakashi-Sensei, my chakra coursing rapidly through the wave.

"Now, make it stop!" Kakashi instructed as he dodged the impending attack.

_Stop? _I asked myself just as the serpent crashed down on the rock Kakashi-Sensei was just standing on. "How am I supposed to make it stop once it's been released?"

"That serpent requires a lot of chakra and could be much more powerful if you learned how to control the flow of chakra throughout the water and direct it at a target that's moving or stationary," he said. "Try again."

It was sunset by the time I was finally able to control my chakra flow enough to make the serpent stop before it struck; redirecting it was a whole new realm of impossible. "You're doing great, Hikari," Kakashi-Sensei encouraged. "Try it again."

I nodded mutely and panted as I performed my hand signs. "Water style, mouth of the serpent!" I said for the millionth time. The head of the serpent darted toward Kakashi-Sensei and froze in place when he quickly dodged it. I narrowed my eyes and stiffened my hands as I concentrated on the feel of the stream of chakra that coursed through the water. I exhaled slowly and widened my stance, turning every molecule toward Kakashi's new location. A bead of sweat rolled down my face as my body began to shake from the enormous effort. Then, its head turned to him and the water crashed to the ground along with my own body. My hands shook uncontrollably as they rested against the grass, sweat dripping from my face and forming puddles beneath me. I panted in an attempt to catch my breath and collect myself again.

"I think we've done enough for today," Kakashi-Sensei said, suddenly next to me.

I shook my head and got back on my feet. My knees rattled under me but I ignored it and raised my hands to chest level. "Water style, mouth of the serpent," I breathed. Despite the exhaustion that consumed every fiber of my being, I pushed my body yo cooperate with my mind; I was determined to master this. Kakashi fled to the opposite side of the river, awaiting my attack as the water molded into a serpent once again. My whole body pulsed with exertion as I pumped more of my depleting chakra into the water, my vision beginning to blur. The serpent finally rose and headed for the shock of silver hair across the river, stopping again when he evaded it. I funneled the rest of my chakra into the water molecules, using all of it to turn them toward Kakashi's new location. In a final burst of strength, the serpent quickly turned and crashed onto Kakashi, my body collapsing as soon as it hit him. The _pop _of a destroyed shadow clone was the last thing I heard before I finally allowed my eyes to close.

The warmth of a fire beat against my face as my mind awoke. I was able to hear what was going on around me but my body was still paralyzed by exhaustion; I couldn't even open my eyes anymore.

"We're looking for Mist ninjas, right?"

"That's what it said in the file,"

It was Kai and Kakashi-Sensei talking.

"Were those girls part of the gang we're after?"

There was a pause. "I'm not sure but it would explain why they came after us,"

"And this new jutsu will definitely give us an upper hand?"

"As long as they don't have anything stronger, yes."

It was quiet for a while before Kakashi spoke again. "Hikari and I have decided that it'd be best if she and I created a new jutsu while you and Reina also created one -"

"I don't want to work with Reina, she barely fights at all."

"She fought great last night,"

Kai sighed. "Whatever,"

I awoke fully early the next morning, the dull light of dawn painting the sky gray and hues of yellow. The others were asleep around the burned out fire pit as I stood and headed further down the river bank. I took a deep breath and created my water serpent once again, sending it forth to destroy a rabbit on the other side of the river. When the tuft of brown fur hopped away into the forest, my serpent hovered in the air before changing direction and attacking a tree. The trunk snapped in half like a toothpick once the wave slammed into it, the _crack _was louder than I anticipated and made me flinch. The wave receded and merged with the river, leaving nothing but splintered remains in its wake.

"Damn," Kai said from behind me. "You have that down."

I smiled, shocked that I didn't use as much chakra as I did yesterday. "I heard you were out all day training,"

He nodded. "Didn't get any better, though. Not like you did in one day of training."

I could hear the doubt in his tone; _I _had Kai Uchiha doubting himself. I actually felt somewhat accomplished, mostly because he's one of the strongest people I've ever met, but then again I felt like I was taking something from him - something so important that he was now seriously doubting his own abilities. "Your dad's wrong," I said without thinking, immediately regretting it.

His face twisted up in confusion. "What?"

I swallowed hard, I _had _to explain myself now. "My dad told me some old war stories about your dad and how he wanted to restore the Uchiha clan. He also said that your dad is putting a lot of pressure on you since you're the only male Uchiha that can carry on the name and the Sharingan," I paused for a quick breath. "He pushes you to your limits in order to protect the clan, that's why all you focus on is training and why you never let anyone get close to you, you think it's just a distraction."

"People _are _distractions," he said, grinding his teeth and clenching his fists. Before I could think about it, I instinctively put my hand up and caught Kai's fist that was meant for my face. "You don't know _anything _about me or my father." he muttered as he ripped his fist from my hand and stalked into the forest.

I let out the breath I was holding in and turned back toward the river, my hands shaking from the close encounter. "Water style, mouth of the serpent!"


	9. Chapter 9: Lightning

The Next Shinobi, Chapter 9: Lightning

"Great job, Hikari," Kakashi-Sensei smirked as the water from my serpent drained back into the river. "You have a pretty good handle on how to control the water without wasting chakra."

I smiled at his approval. "What's next?"

"Now, we have to add the lightning to it," he answered as if it would be easy.

I took a deep breath and nodded. "How do we do that?"

"Your water serpent is going to serve as a conductor for the chidori and we're going to create a sort of lightning serpent that won't just hit its victim like a tsunami, but will also electrocute them."

My smile widened at the prospect of that chidori flowing through the mouth of the serpent; this jutsu was going to be kick ass. "Okay, let's do this."

"Alright, but it's going to be difficult to control the water molecules since the static from the chidori will also be coursing through them. We also need to work together to get it to work properly; I'll follow along your water while you control and maintain it. Got it?"

"Yeah, sure," I said quickly before performing the mouth of the serpent jutsu.

"Ready?" Kakashi-Sensei asked, the chidori crackling and chirping in the palm of his hand.

"You know it," I grinned excitedly.

"Chidori!" he shouted as he thrust the chidori into the base of the wave.

My eyes widened as the intense static from the chidori spread throughout the water rapidly. I struggled to control the wave, the lightning causing the molecules to bounce against each other like rubber balls. My chakra wasn't strong enough to contain the static within the molecules; they felt like they were about to burst. "I can't control it!" I yelled over the chirping wave. "It's too much!"

"Yes, you can," Kakashi-Sensei protested. "Just relax and focus on controlling the water, I'll handle the chidori."

I swallowed hard and complied, solely concentrating on the water's energy instead of the lightning's wild energy. Although the molecules still bounced around, it was much easier controlling them without trying to contain the chidori inside of them. The serpent roared loudly as it turned and crashed into a thick tree on the edge of the forest. The water slammed against the sturdy trunk and nearly ripped it out of the ground while the chidori consumed it and burnt it black. I breathed heavily and smirked as the blackened tree crumbled to the ground, only a heap of ashes remaining. "That was awesome," I breathed proudly.

"It's going to take a while to perfect, but that wasn't a bad first run," Kakashi nodded. "Go and replenish your chakra, we'll resume in a few hours."

After changing Reina's bandages, I wandered into the forest in search of Kai at Kakashi-Sensei's request. I dabbed at my forehead with the back of my hand, only succeeding in spreading the sticky sweat around on my skin. _He'd better turn up soon, _I groaned silently. _It's getting hotter by the second._ Out of the corner of my eye, a strange orange light emitted from behind a row of trees. _Gotcha._

"Fire style, phoenix flower jutsu!" Kai yelled as he put his hand around his mouth and blew out an intense spiral of fire. I shielded my face with my arm and watched s the inferno tore through the trees as if they were made of paper.

"You definitely got better," I said as I stepped through the trees, still stunned at how much more powerful the phoenix flower was now than it was just a few days ago.

He cast me a dark glare before turning away and performing the jutsu again. "Kakashi-Sensei sent me to come and get you," I said once the flames died down. He took a deep breath and jumped into the air, quickly contorting his hands into hand signs and casting out the phoenix flower as he somersaulted through the air.

I leaped into the canopy of the forest to dodge the flames that were being thrown in every direction. I narrowed my eyes and brought my hands to chest level. "Water style, giant vortex!" I shouted, the swirling waters tackling Kai to the ground.

"What the hell, Uzumaki?" Kai growled when the vortex receded. Burns surrounded his mouth and the inside of his right hand; he'd been training so much that he was beginning to lose control of the flames.

I sighed. "We're back to that, Uchiha?" I put my hands on my hips. "Just when I thought we were getting along."

"Just leave me alone," he muttered as he stood back up. "Tell Kakashi I'll be back later."

"He told me to bring you back now," I replied. "So, c'mon, you've done enough today."

He shook his head. "I need to perfect my jutsu,"

"You don't have time for that," I urged. I was beginning to _really _get sick of his stubbornness. "We need to start working on our new jutsus while we have time."

Kai glared harshly again. "I'll be back later,"

I rolled my eyes. I knew he wouldn't come willingly, but I hoped I wouldn't have to unveil my secret weapon; if this didn't work, nothing would. "You know, it doesn't matter how much you train, you're still just as weak as you were before."

His body instantly went rigid. "Shut up,"

"Why?" I shrugged. "It's not like you don't know that you'll never be able to live up to the Uchiha name. You're just wasting time and energy hoping to become something we both know you'll never be,"

"You don't know anything!" Kai screamed angrily. "You're just the pampered daughter of the Hokage! You've never had to worry about anything!"

I brushed off the sting of his words and forced myself to stick to my plan. "I'd rather be a pampered brat than a worthless imitation."

_That _was my golden ticket. Kai's lips peeled back in a fierce snarl as he launched toward me, throwing kicks and punches one after the other. I blocked them all the best I could and whipped my leg around his and tripped him, immediately turning and running as fast as I could back toward camp. "You can't run from me, Uzumaki!" Kai called after me. I could hear his footsteps rapidly approaching; although I had the upper hand in ninjutsu, Kai had the upper hand in speed and taijutsu. The mist from the waterfall began to seep into the atmosphere, signaling that camp was only a few minutes away. I breathed heavily and pushed my aching legs to move faster, Kai only a few feet behind and urging me on. Right as we broke though the last row of trees, Kai reached out to grab me only to be knocked to the ground by Kakashi-Sensei. I slid to a grinding halt and panted in an attempt to fill my oxygen deprived lungs.

"What's going on here?" Kakashi-Sensei asked, standing over Kai and acting as a barrier between the two of us.

"Nothing," Kai spat. "What'd you want me for?"

"I just thought that you'd want to start working on your new jutsu, but I guess not." he shrugged apathetically.

Kai sighed and got to his feet, his demeanor softened and slightly more relaxed. "What do you want me to do?"

"Go replenish your chakra," Kakashi ordered. "Hikari and I will train until you're done."

Kai sent me one last poisonous glare before he stalked off toward the river bank, Kakashi-Sensei and I heading to the opposite side of the river. We trained until nightfall, Kakashi switching between Kai and I every hour or so and leaving us to train by ourselves while he trained the other. We had the basic idea of the lightning serpent down, but consistency and maintaining its power was a while new problem in itself. "Why is this taking so long?" I whined impatiently. "We've been doing this all day and it's _still_ inconsistent."

Kakashi chuckled. "Hikari, this isn't going to be perfected over night, it's going to take a lot of time and work."

"I don't _have_ time!" I countered in sheer frustration. "Just do it again,"

He complied mutely. "Chidori!"

"Water style, mouth of the serpent!"

"Chidori dragon jutsu!"


	10. Chapter 10: Dead Silence

The Next Shinobi, Chapter 10: Dead Silence

That night, we were all dead silent; a morgue wasn't even _this _quiet. The popping of the fire was accompanied by the splashing of the waterfall as we all ate our dinner, we hardly looked at each other since training earlier in the evening.

"So," Reina began awkwardly, her eyes scrutinizing us intently. "Who died?"

"Uzumaki's lucky Kakashi rescued her or she would've," Kai mumbled hatefully, scowling darkly at me.

I glowered at him. "He's just jealous because Kakashi-Sensei and I've already started our new jutsu,"

"Don't flatter yourself," he scoffed. "There's nothing to be jealous of."

"That's enough," Kakashi-Sensei intervened before I could respond. "It's always one step forward and two steps back with you two."

It fell silent after that for what felt like an eternity. "You should put something on those burns," Kakashi suggested to Kai, finally breaking the lull.

Kai shrugged. "I'm fine,"

Those were the last words until the next morning's training session. "Alright, I think you're finally well enough to begin working on your new jutsu," Kakashi-Sensei smiled to Reina. "You and Kai will be working together since your wind nature feeds his fire nature."

She glanced briefly at Kai and reluctantly complied. "What's first?"

He turned to me. "Hikari, go keep yourself busy for a while,"

"What am I supposed to do?" I wondered. We were in the middle of nowhere and my chakra was still depleted from days of intense training.

"We don't care, just get lost," Kai retorted sharply. "We didn't lean over your shoulder while you trained."

"Whatever," I rolled my eyes. "Oh, and you might want to pull that stick out of your ass, it messes with your jutsu. I guess that explains why I'm _still _better than you,"

"You'd better watch your back, Uzumaki," Kai warned, his jaw locked and frame tense.

"Or what?" I challenged with a smirk. "You'll kill me? Please, you might win in sparring matches but when it's the real thing, I'll win hands down."

"Okay, okay," Kakashi-Sensei sighed. "Hikari, just find something to do for a while. I'll come find you when we're done."

Without another word, I headed into the forest in search of something interesting to do. After sprinting through the trees until my leg muscles throbbed and ached with exertion, I leaned against a thick oak tree and sunk to the ground slowly. I allowed my eyes to drift shut as a refreshing gust of wind rushed past and tossed my hair across my face, the cool air wiping the sweat from my brow. The summer birds sang cheerfully from the treetops, their constant chirping echoing in my eardrums and making it that much more noticeable when it suddenly quieted and stopped all together. My eyes instantly snapped open and glanced in every direction for the cause of the birds' sudden silence. Nothing else seemed out of the ordinary, at least until I felt the softest of touches on the back of my neck, almost as if a feather brushed against my skin. "What the hell?" I murmured as I instinctively clasped my hand over the back of my neck.

"Shh," a barely audible voice hushed from right beside me. "Don't worry, it'll all be over quickly, just rest now."

It felt as though my strength was draining from my body, I couldn't even turn my head to see who was speaking. Everything began to turn white and fuzzy, my eyelids rapidly becoming unbearably heavy. _It's a genjutsu, _I remembered weakly from one of Kakashi-Sensei's lectures. _I need to get back… _

And with that thought, my body drifted into a deep sleep.


	11. Chapter 11: Puppet Master

The Next Shinobi, Chapter 11: Puppet Master

"She's still asleep?"

"I think she's coming to,"

I struggled to open my eyes, the genjutsu still flowing heavily through my system. "Where'd they go?" I choked out.

"Who?" Kakashi-Sensei asked, kneeling in front of me.

I shook my head in an effort to clear my cloudy thoughts. "They were here, they said it'd be over soon."

"You fell asleep," Reina explained calmly. "It was probably a dream."

"No," I disagreed firmly. "It was a genjutsu,"

Kakashi-Sensei's expression instantly hardened. "Hikari, who was here?"

"I don't know," I admitted. "I didn't see them. I was sitting here and it got really quiet, then someone touched my neck and told me to rest and that everything would be over soon."

"And it will be," a woman said from behind the three of them.

Kakashi-Sensei, Kai, and Reina immediately turned and got into the routine defense formation only to be met by two very familiar girls. My eyes nearly popped out of my skull as I stared at them, the shock obvious on my face; it was Chizuko and Mari. "How the _hell _are they still alive?" Kai gasped.

"We _saw _Hikari kill them," Reina added, her voice shaking.

"It's got to be a reanimation jutsu," Kakashi concluded. "Stay on your toes."

"Enough talk," Chizuko smirked as she got into her fighting stance. "Let's play."

Before another word could be uttered, Chizuko darted for Reina only to be intercepted by Kakashi-Sensei. Mari headed straight for Kai again, wielding her sword with such accuracy and grace it was impossible not to be impressed. The genjutsu still had me under its spell, but I could finally turn my head to look for the puppet master pulling the strings behind Chizuko and Mari. I scanned the trees for any sign of a foreign entity but all I got were branches and leaves. Suddenly, something shiny caught my eye as it flew through the air. "Reina, watch out!" I yelled a second too late.

Reina winced and fell to her knees, clutching her thigh that now had a shiny needle sticking out of it. "Damn it,"

"Are you okay?" I asked. My limbs were finally regaining feeling again and allowed me to crawl closer to her to get a better look at the wound.

"Fine," she replied as she yanked the needle from her leg. Her eyes widened as she gazed down at the needle's black tip. "It's a poison needle,"

I could feel the color drain from my face. "What do we do?"

"We need to squeeze the poison back out," she said through gritted teeth as she began to squeeze the blood out of the small wound. The blood that oozed from the wound had a strange black hue instead of its normal deep red color; I supposed it was the poison. Just as her blood began to turn red again, another needle shot clear through Reina's shoulder and pinned her to the tree she leaned against.

_They're going after the wounded one first, _I realized as I surveyed our surroundings for the needles' origin. _I need to find them and fast. _"Can you use your medical ninjutsu to neutralize the poison?"

She shook her head. "I can't neutralize it but I can try to draw it back to the surface."

"Alright," I nodded. I sat up and wrapped my fingers around the thin piece of metal. "Ready?"

Reina sucked in a deep breath, closed her eyes, and returned the nod. In one swift motion, I pulled the needle from her shoulder along with a small amount of the thick black liquid. She immediately clapped her palm over the wound, the familiar green aura of medical ninjutsu shrouding her hand. "You going to be okay?" I asked as I staggered to my feet. My legs still felt heavy and disconnected from my body, but I forced them to cooperate with me.

"I think so," she flinched in pain as a thin black stream trickled down her arm. "There's only a small amount that's too far along my bloodstream to draw back out. The bad news is that we don't know the effects of the poison."

"I'm sure we'll find out soon enough," I replied just as another needle fired toward Reina from the canopy of the forest. Summoning all my strength, I slid in front of her and deflected the needle with my kunai. "Think you can take care of yourself for now?"

"Yeah, just go," Reina pushed as she got back to her feet. She seemed wobbly and dizzy, I suspected it was an effect of the poison.

I complied and launched into the treetops in the direction of the needles' origin, a flash of white hair catching my attention once I hit the very top. I smirked as I landed on the branch. "Playing hide and seek, are we?"

"So, you found me," a white-haired man grinned as he turned to face me. The headband he wore around his waist bore the symbol of the Sound ninja; we were in for quite a fight. "You're pretty observant, aren't you?"

"Yeah, but I'm not much of a talker," I retorted, summoning every ounce of chakra I could. "Let's dance."

He smirked and crossed his triceps, bending his fingers with his palms facing me. "Fine, let's see how you like my friend!"

I jumped out of the way as a wooden puppet flew toward me, its jaw snapping repeatedly and making a _clicking _noise when it attacked. This puppet master reminded me of the Sand shinobi Kakashi-Sensei spoke about when he told us his old war stories from when he trained our parents. According to those stories, puppet masters were a powerful breed of shinobi; this guy wasn't going to go down easy. I threw a hard punch at the puppet's face, hitting it with such force that it split open the skin on my knuckles. Its head snapped back in place and its jaw dropped, firing kunai knives from a hole in its mouth at an alarming rate. I blocked as many of the knives as I could but a few still penetrated my defense. I touched down on a nearby branch and flinched at the sting of the cuts that now graced my body; these kunai were sharper than normal kunai that we carried. I pulled one of the knives from the branch and stared down at the blade as it sparkled like some sort of crystal or diamond.

"You should really pay attention, little girl!" the puppet master called as he moved his fingers in different formations. In accordance with his finger positions, the puppet fired toward me again.

I rolled just in time to dodge the puppet as it crashed into the branch, sending the rest of it tumbling to the forest floor. I drove my foot as hard as I could into the puppet's wooden sternum only to have it trapped by the crystal under layer of its frame. The master cackled devilishly. "My puppet's wooden shell is only a protective shield for the true crystal structure which gives it its shape and power."

"Shut up, already!" I hissed angrily, annoyance festering in the pit of my stomach. I yanked my foot from the crystal and threw another kick into the puppet's face. The wood cracked and revealed more sparkling crystal as its head once again snapped in place. I quickly tumbled backward and kicked off of the trunk in an attempt to dodge the impending kunai barrage. The clicking of its jaw echoed behind me as I whirled around and dug my kunai into its shoulder, deterring it enough to distract the master for a few seconds and giving me a chance to hide and regroup.

"There's no use in hiding," he snickered ominously. "I'll still find you."

I staggered my breathing to make it as inaudible as possible and stayed as close to the trunk I hid behind as I could as I racked my brain for a plan. _Water style, water clone jutsu. _


	12. Chapter 12: No Fear

The Next Shinobi, Chapter 12: No Fear

"There you are," the puppet master grinned as he landed on the edge of the tree branch I was hiding on. "Told you I'd find you."

My body trembled as he approached me, his malicious grin paralyzing me with fear; he couldn't wait to kill me. "Please," I whimpered, shrinking as close to the trunk as I could as he advanced toward me. "I'll do anything,"

An evil cackle erupted from his throat at my words. "What's the matter? No more fight left in you already? Pathetic girl," he shook his head in disappointment as he grabbed my ponytail and hoisted me up until we were eye level. "Let me do you and your teammates a favor by putting you out of your misery." he finished, his puppet appearing behind me. The torso of the puppet was opened wide and revealed an inner compartment made of the same crystal that the kunai blades were forged from. In one swift throw, I found myself inside the compartment as the opening quickly shut and trapped me inside. Before I could think of an escape route, crystal spears shot through the torso of the puppet and pierced my body in countless areas; I couldn't even attempt to keep up with the speed and accuracy of them. Once all of my vital points were shredded among the sharp crystal blades, water began to trickle from the puppet instead of the blood that the master expected. "It was a clone?"

"You might want to start paying attention!" I smirked as I landed on the master's back and drove my kunai deep into the junction of his neck and shoulder. He screamed out in pain and grabbed my hair once again, throwing me over his shoulder against the tree trunk, a splash of water greeting him.

"Come out and fight, coward!" he screamed angrily as he pulled the knife from his skin. I held back my laughter and sent out another water clone that slid along the branch and tripped him, evoking even more anger and frustration. "Let's see how you like this!" he growled, crossing his triceps and flexing his fingers again. The puppet hovered in the space between its master and my hiding spot as its jaw dropped and its head began to spin, kunai knives firing from its mouth in every direction.

Against my better judgment, I leaped from my hiding spot and headed straight for the puppet master. I forced all apprehension and fear from my mind; this was the kind of mission my father spoke to me about that night that seemed so far away and this was no time to feel anything but determination. I clapped my palms together and collected chakra from every corner of my being. "Water style, giant vortex!" I yelled, unleashing the vortex at its full force. I watched in anticipation as the vortex crashed onto him and swirled angrily as it thrashed against the trees. I held up the jutsu as long as my chakra allowed but had to dispel it after a mere five minutes, my body limp and weak from the effort the vortex demanded. My eyes grew wide when the water retreated and revealed a pyramid of crystal where the puppet master stood.

"Silly little girl," he chuckled as the crystal shelter collapsed around him. There wasn't a single scratch on him or the crystal, it was as if my vortex had never even touched them. "You _honestly _thought that pathetic jutsu could harm me?"

"What the hell…?" I breathed in disbelief. I knew this guy was going to be good, but I _knew _I nailed him that time and he somehow deflected it without me even noticing; this guy wasn't just good, he was insane. In the blink of an eye, he was in front of me with his fist burrowing into my stomach. I gasped for air and fell limp over his forearm as blood dripped from my mouth, my lungs completely devoid of oxygen.

"That's for stabbing me," he whispered in my ear, the venom in his voice striking fear straight through me. I once again forced the prospect of fear out of my head and tried to convince myself that I was going to survive. He quickly grabbed my arm and hurled me into the trees behind him. I coughed up more blood and leaned up on my hands and knees, the shooting pain in my back nearly unbearable. "That's for tripping me," he smirked as he lifted me by my shirt. "And this is for pissing me off!" he added between tight lips before throwing me as hard as he could to the forest floor. Blurs of green and brown surrounded me as I plummeted through the trees, branches inflicting deep wounds as I smacked against them. With an earth-shattering thud, I finally hit the forest floor with such speed that my body created a crater in the soil.

"Hikari!" Kakashi-Sensei yelled from some unidentifiable direction. The concern in his voice was obvious, it almost made me feel a little bit better.

My breathing was slow and shallow while my vision began to blur. It was impossible to move, I couldn't even feel my body anymore and the only thing I could think about was the fact that I could actually die right here. Suddenly, Kai was kneeling in front of me; I supposed he defeated Mari again since he actually had time to come and check on me. "Who did this?"

"Pup-puppet," I managed to choke out, finding the strength to speak from somewhere inside my broken and injured body.

"Puppet?" he repeated confusedly.

"That would be me," the puppet master said from behind Kai. "She wasn't much of a challenge, let's hope you put up a better fight."

"Kai," I murmured before he could turn away.

"What?" he asked softly. I knew he was grinding his teeth by the tightness in his voice, it made me want to smile.

"Be careful, he uses some sort of strong crystal in his jutsu along with a puppet to protect him."

"Don't worry," Kai assured confidently. "All you need to worry about is staying with us, okay?"

"Okay," I agreed.

"C'mon little boy, let's see what you got," the puppet master urged excitedly.

Kai stood and turned to face him, his knuckles bone white from balling his fists. "You messes with the wrong team," he warned, quickly performing his hand signs. "Fire style, phoenix flower jutsu!"


	13. Chapter 13: The Kiss of Death

The Next Shinobi, Chapter 13: The Kiss of Death

I tried my best to hold my eyes open but the pain was too intense for my body; every fiber of my being was shutting down, one-by-one. "Hikari, this is going to hurt but I need you to stay with me, okay?" Kakashi-Sensei said as he slid his arms under me. I nodded the best I could before being lifted from the dirt. A pained yelp jumped from my throat as he carried me from the battlefield. Every bone in my body felt as if it'd been broken and my muscles were limp and lifeless; my entire frame had been rendered useless. "Reina, take care of her. I need to find the others, just make sure she stays alive, got it?"

"Right," Reina replied as she placed her hands on my stomach, the green aura surrounding them.

I winced in pain as she rooted around inside of me, searching for any substantial damage. "That hurts," I groaned weakly. My eyelids were becoming heavier with every second that passed and soon it felt like I had lead weights as eyelashes. "I'm tired…" I murmured as I allowed my eyes to drift shut.

"Hey, stay awake," Reina ordered. Her voice sounded far away now, almost as though I was drifting down a river and she was yelling to me from the shore, her image fading from sight the further I floated on the water. Beyond the blackness that consumed me, memories began to filter through like fireflies on a pitch black night.

_"Go on, Hirkari," my father encouraged with his usual toothy grin. "You're going to be late for your first day at the Academy."_

_I shook my head and clung to his arm. "I don't want to go, daddy,"_

_He chuckled and knelt down so we were eye level. "Tell you what, I'll walk in with you, okay?"_

_"Really daddy? You will?" I smiled brightly, my eyes lit up like Christmas trees. _

_He nodded and stood, holding my hand as he led me inside. "I'm sorry, Iruka, but she wouldn't come in unless I came in with her," he apologized as we entered the classroom._

_"It's no problem, Lord Hokage," Iruka-Sensei smiled. I shrunk back behind my father as Iruka leaned closer to me. "Would you like your father to stay in class for today?"_

_"Yeah!" I cheered excitedly, my blonde pigtails bouncing playfully around my shoulders. _

_"Are you sure it's alright?" my father whispered. _

_Iruka waved dismissively. "Don't worry about it. Your seats are right over there," he motioned to a seat between a dark haired boy and a girl in a bright pink dress. I skipped up to the third level of desks and plopped down in my seat with my father in tow. "I'm Hikari Uzumaki," I whispered to the boy who sat at my left, flashing him my friendliest smile. _

_He looked at me briefly before turning his attention back to the front of the room. "Kai Uchiha," he muttered bitterly._

_"Uchiha?" my father gasped almost inaudibly._

_"Do you know him, daddy?" I wondered. "He's kinda mean,"_

_He shook his head. "No, honey, I don't know him."_

_After our morning lesson, it was time to show off what we already could do with kunai knives and shuriken stars. "Why don't we have Hikari Uzumaki go first?" Iruka-Sensei suggested. I timidly stepped forward, the whispers from the other children making me even more nervous. I looked back at my father who smiled and nodded, encouraging me to show them what we'd been working on. I took a deep breath and nodded in return, turning to Iruka-Sensei and taking the kunai and shuriken he held out to me. I got into my fighting stance and narrowed my eyes at the target posted on the center on the tree before me. In one smooth motion, I threw the kunai and shuriken; both of them hit the bull's eye._

_"Whoa,"_

_"Did you see that?"_

_"She's amazing!"_

_"Of course she is, she's the Hokage's daughter,"_

"Hikari!"

I coughed violently and awoke to Reina pushing repeatedly on my chest. I spat out the blood that oozed into my mouth and forced my eyes to open. "Reina, that hurts," I mumbled. It felt like an elephant was sitting on my chest and it didn't help with her putting all of her weight on my lungs.

The relief on her face was obvious. "You do realize that your heart just stopped, right?"

"Oh," I replied. "Is that why it's so hard to breathe?"

That relief quickly morphed into concern as she placed her hands on my stomach once again. It was getting increasingly difficult to breath and I could feel my heart beat slow each time I attempted to fill my lungs. "No, not again," Reina pleaded, her voice cracking slightly. The panic in her tone was like oil on water, it almost sounded like she was crying. "Hikari, please, fight it!" she begged.

I swallowed slowly, my saliva thick with blood, as my eyes began to flutter shit again. I wanted desperately to stay awake, but my will power had abandoned me and I couldn't fight anymore. "Reina," I whispered as the darkness began to surround me. "You're a spoiled brat and you're virtually useless in battle, but in a weird, Twilight Zone kind of way, I've always envied you…"

Before I could say anymore, the darkness dragged me under once again.

_"Okay, you've all made genin and are being assigned to your teams today," Iruka-Sensei announced as he held a clipboard in front of his face. _

_'Please don't put me with Uchiha,' I prayed silently as he read off the teams. 'Anyone but Uchiha,'_

_"Team seven," he started. "Reina Haruno, Hikari Uzumaki, and Kai Uchiha."_

_My jaw smacked the desk as I attempted to process what had just occurred. "Great, I'm on a team with useless Haruno and moody Uchiha," I muttered, leaning back in my seat and crossing my arms. I glanced to my right only to be met with Reina retouching her lipgloss, completely oblivious to anything around her. I rolled my eyes and looked to the left. Kai blew his bangs from his eyes and sent me a poisonous glare only to have me return it to him. 'This is going to be awful,'_

_"Oh boy," Kakashi-Sensei sighed when he finally decided to show up to our first training session. "Let's hope I see the same potential I saw in your parents. First thing's first, we need to see if two of you can get these bells from me, the third will go without lunch and watch the rest of us eat. Understood?"_

_"Ugh, you can't be serious," Reina whined as she inspected her manicure._

_"Do I look like I'm joking?" Kakashi retorted as he pulled out a small orange rectangle. It was a book._

_"You're reading?" Kai asked with a raised brow. _

_"Yeah," he nodded, his eyes glued to the page. "You may begin."_

I smiled as I gazed at the memory, the fuzzy orb of light it came in floating away along with the others. The small, firefly-like creatures surrounded me and gave me glimpses of moments in my life like a slideshow. They all blended together nicely into a perfectly imperfect mosaic that summarized my life. My eyes stung as I tried to hold back the salty tears that filled my vision. I could feel those memories fading away, one-by-one disappearing into a black abyss, never to return from the eternal darkness. I knew I was dead, or dying at least, since everyone always said that seeing your life flash before your eyes was basically the kiss of death. I swallowed the lump in my throat as a trail of hot tears flowed down my face; _this _was really it. I held my face in my hands and allowed myself to break down. There wouldn't be anymore training with Kakashi-Sensei, no more sparring sessions with Kai, no more yelling at Reina to actually do something; it'd all be gone and all I'd be left with was the darkness. My shoulders shook violently as I sobbed into my palms uncontrollably, my memories drifting away slowly while one floated down to me, its warmth making me look up from my hands. It was the portrait he four of us took that same day we passed the bell test and became team seven. Kai was at the bottom glaring up at me while I had my arms draped around his shoulders, Reina doing the same to me and Kakashi-Sensei at the very top; we actually looked like we _liked _each other in this picture even though we couldn't stand to be in the same room. A strangled smile crept across my face as I stared down at the picture, tears falling from the tip of my nose and staining the small orb with water spots. After a minute or so, the orb floated away with the rest and disappeared beyond the darkness of my dying body.

Suddenly, the darkness and the orbs disappeared and I was standing in the forest next to Reina who knelt next to my body. Tears traveled down her cheeks like rain as she repeatedly performed CPR. "C'mon, Uzumaki," she grunted as she pushed on my chest. "Fight, damn it! You choose right now to give up? Fight!"

I gazed down at my body, my skin sickly pale with ugly purpling shadows under my eyes; I looked nothing like myself at all anymore. In fact, I hardly recognized myself, I felt no connection to that body, at least until Reina leaned down and pressed her lips to mine while holding my nose. I felt the warmth of her breath flow into me, filling my empty lungs. She leaned back up and quickly continued her compressions, the pressure forcing my muscles to contract and relax. I suddenly felt strange, like I was disappearing like the orbs that carried my memories. I looked down at my hand that was now fading away, expanding until my entire body was gone.

I coughed as I awoke again, this time much more violently in order to fill my lungs. I stared up at Reina as she sobbed and collapsed onto me in what seemed like a hug. "That hurts," I giggled weakly. Her whole body shuttered as she held me close, my slow heart beat attempting to keep up with her racing one.

"I didn't think you were coming back that time," she sobbed against my shoulder. "I thought you gave up."

"Give up?" I attempted a smirk. "I don't know the meaning of those words."

She collected herself enough to sit back up and return the strangled smile. "You'd better stay with me this time,"

I nodded and breathed deeply, my heart picking up speed as I did. "Okay,"


	14. Chapter 14: I'll Cover You

The Next Shinobi, Chapter 14: I'll Cover You

I laid on the forest floor while Reina sat next to me and deflected poison needles and kunai knives that the Sound ninja fired at us as they fought off Kakashi-Sensei. There were two other Sound ninja that hid throughout the forest; a woman with long chestnut hair and an earth nature that controlled the now-disabled reanimation jutsu that was resurrected Chizuko and Mari and a man that seemed to specialize in poison since he was the one with the needles. He also wore a belt lined with strange bottles and what looked to me like smoke bombs; I suspected they were filled with some sort of airborne poison by the way he was careful not to puncture them with his needles. Kakashi-Sensei fought the both of them off fairly well, but I knew this was serious since he had his Sharingan exposed. I turned my attention to Kai and the puppet master, their battle heating up rapidly as Kai fought to protect Reina and I. Normally, I'd be insulted by his efforts that insinuated that I couldn't protect myself but in my current state, I was almost flattered and mostly surprised at his obvious concern for our safety.

"Help me sit up," I said to Reina as I attempted to move my shattered body. It took all of my strength to move my arm even an inch, everything ached with such intensity that my worst nightmare couldn't produce a pain anywhere near the pain that racked my being now.

"Hikari, you cheated death, let's not tempt fate," Reina protested firmly, blocking another black-tipped needle with her kunai.

"I need to see what's going on," I pushed, wincing as I forced my feeble arms to support me as I leaned up on my elbows. Although I was just about a foot higher than my previous position, I already had a much better view of what was going on around me. "I need to make sure they're okay."

"Kakashi-Sensei and Kai can fend for themselves," she replied, her expression softened slightly. "What we need to worry about is keeping you alive, that's what's driving us to fight harder than we ever have before. We won't let you die here and I can't let you injure yourself more so lay back down and try and relax, I'll keep you updated."

I smiled at her words. I'd never heard Reina care about anyone but herself and it shocked me that the person she was caring for was me of all people. Despite her protests, I took a deep breath and threw myself up into a sitting position, quickly turning so I leaned against a tree. My ribcage felt as if it were broken into separate bones instead of the unified bone it was supposed to form, each one rattling against the others under my skin. I leaned my head back and closed my eyes tight as I allowed the pain to engulf my body, it almost made me wan to vomit.

"Are you insane?" Reina scolded, the anger and concern in her tone flowing together seamlessly. "You can easily puncture a lung moving around like that!"

"Well, I can't really do much more damage considering I'm practically the living dead," I retorted, reopening my eyes so I could watch the battle unfold. Kai dodged the attacks from the puppet effortlessly and focused all of his power on the puppet's master who frantically continued to throw the puppet in front of him as a shield. I'd never seen Kai fight like this before, his moves were graceful and fluid instead of rough and impulsive like they usually were and the way he blocked the attacks made it seem as if he knew how to dodge it before the attack even began. Then, it hit me - he was using the Sharingan. I knew he was a carrier of the Uchiha's Kekkei Genkai, but I'd never seen him actually use it until now; _now _I knew it was serious. I watched in amazement as he predicted each and every movement the puppet made and moved accordingly. What I didn't understand was why he never used the Sharingan before now, it gave him such an unbelievable advantage that I couldn't believe he didn't use it when we sparred.

"I've had enough!" Kai snarled viciously as he finished his hand signs. "Fire style, fireball jutsu!" he declared as a giant ball of flame tumbled toward the puppet.

I shielded my face with my arm as the flames consumed the puppet, the fierce inferno tearing through its wooden exoskeleton like it was made of tissue paper. The flames finally died and revealed a completely crystallized puppet devoid of any sign of harm; I supposed its exterior took all of the damage. "You're going to need much more heat than that to destroy my crystalline puppet!" the master cackled darkly.

Kai's head snapped in his direction, the look in his eyes sending a stab of fear through my heart. "I'd shut up if I were you!" he yelled, darting straight for the puppet master. He moved so fast that I barely saw a blur in his wake as he suddenly appeared in front of the master and landed a bone-crushing punch on his jaw. The Sound ninja was sent flying through the trees as break-neck speed, finally stopping only to be kicked back the same way he came. His body slammed against a tree just a few yards from Reina and I, Kai appearing between us and breathing heavily. "That's for pissing me off," he breathed.

The puppet master coughed up blood and struggled to his feet with a sickening smirk on his face. "You're definitely a better opponent than your half-dead friend, I'll give you that," he chuckled as he wiped the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand. "But you're still not good enough." he added, quickly throwing the puppet at Kai. He countered every one of the puppet's attempts and landed countless blows, but the crystal the puppet was forged from didn't even crack.

"Reina!" Kai called as he fought off the puppet. "We need to try our new jutsu, it's our only shot at building up enough heat to melt the crystal!"

"We just learned it today," Reina countered. "There's no way we can control it!"

"We can do it!" Kai encouraged. "Hurry and make the tornado!"

"I can't, he's too close. He'll kill me before I even start!"

"No, he won't," he shook his head. "I'll cover you, just _hurry_!"

Reina swallowed hard, it wasn't hard to tell she was scared stiff, as she nodded and stood in front of me. "I'll cover you," she murmured behind her shoulder before she formed her hands into the tiger sign and closed her eyes. As soon as her eyes shut, the Sound ninja sprinted toward her.

"No you don't!" Kai grunted as he intercepted the attack with a swift kick to the stomach. My eyes widened as the air around us began twisting and turning as it gathered around Reina's feet and steadily churned as it built up slowly into the beginning of a tornado. I squinted as the wind expanded up to her waist, barely able to see beyond the chakra-controlled air; I could just barely make out three figures wrestling for dominance, one of them quickly overpowering the others. Within the next few minutes, Reina's tornado had completely engulfed her form in a fury of twisting wind that threatened to destroy everything in its path.

"Fire style, foreball jutsu!" Kai yelled as he lit the tornado ablaze. "Ember cyclone jutsu!"

I watched in awe as the tornado spun out of control toward Kai and the Sound ninja, Kai quickly leaping from its path. The puppet and its master attempted an escape, but were immediately sucked into the eye of the cyclone, invisible beyond the angry flames. The cyclone rapidly dispersed within a minute or so, leaving nothing but a collapsed Reina in its wake. Kai scooped up the exhausted girl and laid her next to me gently. "You okay?" he asked softly as his eyes reverted back to their usual mossy green color.

I nodded. "Besides the fact that I can barely move and I feel like I'm dying, I'm fine," I giggled, accompanied by a bloody cough.

"Everyone alright?" Kakashi-Sensei asked, touching down net to us. He had a few nasty gashes and bruises, but I knew the other two looked a lot worse.

Kai and I nodded. "Can we leave now?" I pleaded, feeling increasingly sleepy due to my severe injuries.

Kakashi smiled and nodded as he carefully took me in his arms. "The Hidden Waterfall isn't far. Let's hope they found us before they found the village."


	15. Chapter 15: Lost Time

The Next Shinobi, Chapter 15: Lost Time

"How's she doing?" a shrill, girly voice wondered from beyond the darkness of my closed lids.

A voice I didn't recognize responded. "It was a lot of work and she was in critical condition, but she seems to be recovering quite well."

"Reina," I murmured almost inaudibly. Everything felt heavy and distorted; I didn't even know where I was anymore.

"I'm right here," she replied instantly as something warm enveloped my hand. I guessed it was hers.

I swallowed hard, my throat dry and sore from sleep, as my eyes slowly opened. We were in some sort of cabin with a perfect view of a cascading waterfall that sat outside the window to my right. "Where are we?"

"We're in the infirmary in the Hidden Waterfall village," she smiled softly. Relief was plastered all over her face, a neon light might as well be flashing over her head, it made me almost want to laugh.

"Where are Kakashi-Sensei and Kai?" I wondered, noting that no one else was in the building. _Must not be a lot of sick people._

"They're helping the villagers rebuild," she sighed. "Those Sound nin did a number on this place."

I nodded and we fell quiet for a while, Reina periodically squeezing my hand as I gazed out the window. "You know," I began after a few long minutes of silence. "I really owe you, you saved my life back there."

She shook her head and giggled softly. "I just did what anyone would've done, it's no big deal."

"No big deal?" I scoffed. "If you weren't there I would've died. That's a big deal, Reina."

"Well, I wasn't just going to let you die," she smiled sweetly, squeezing my hand again. "What kind of friend would I be if I let something like that happen?"

My eyes widened in shock. Reina actually used the term _friend _toward me; I really must've died. "We're friends?"

"Yeah," she laughed, tossing her hair over her shoulder like she always did. "Weird, right?"

"Very," I agreed as I returned the laughter which was quickly followed by a raspy cough. "I meant what I said back there, I've always been strangely envious of you." I added once our giggles trailed off.

Her face twisted up in confusion. "Why?"

"Because you've never had to work for anything and you get anything you want. Besides, you've always gotten everyone's attention. How could I not be jealous?"

Her entire demeanor softened at my words. "You know, I've been jealous of you for as long as I can remember. You were always so strong and determined, even when we were five you were still the best at everything. _That's _why I spent so much time on my looks when we got older, I felt like I had to have something that I did better than you and since you never really cared too much about your looks…" she trailed off with a sigh. "It was just something that I did better than you at,"

I smiled up at her and laughed. "All of these years we've been dead set on hating each other when we actually could've learned something from each other," I shook my head. "We're officially a teenage cliché."

"Yeah," she nodded, suddenly getting serious. "But now we can make up for lost time."

"How is she?" Kakashi-Sensei asked as he peeked around the door.

I smiled and sat up. "I'm fine,"

"That's great, I'm glad you're okay," he smiled brightly. "Kai wants to speak to you."

"I'll see you later," Reina smiled, squeezing my hand one last time before leaving the room.

"Send him in," I sighed, unsure of what to expect.

Kakashi-Sensei nodded and disappeared behind the door. I waited in anticipation and wondered what Kai wanted to talk to me about; I hoped it'd be something good like Reina's talk but with Kai, it was impossible to tell. After what seemed like an eternity, Kai emerged from behind the door. "Hey," he greeted, his hands stuffed in his pockets.

"Hey," I answered awkwardly.

"You look better," he said as he shifted his feet around uncomfortably on the floor.

I knew this was just as awkward for him as it was for me and it was even more awkward just sitting here with each other. "Want to go for a walk?"

The two of us ambled down the cobblestone roads of the village, neither of us speaking and both of us staring down at the ground beneath us. "So," I began as we sat on a rock wall that circled the village. I supposed it used to be a lot taller considering the insane amount of damage that was done to it. "What did you want to talk about?"

There was a long pause. "I'm really glad you're alright," he finally said as he rested his arm on his knee and stared off into the horizon. He looked like a scene right out of a painting by some kind of moody, brooding artist; it was strangely alluring.

"Yeah, I'm glad you're okay, too," I smiled at his concern. It was refreshing to actually _care _about each other rather than trying to kill each other. "You were awesome back there."

"So were you,"

"Yeah, awesome at getting beat to a pulp," I scoffed, my smile falling flat on the ground. Watching Kai fight the puppet master made me realize just how inferior I really was compared to him. There was no way I could compete with an Uchiha, Kai was just too advanced.

He immediately looked directly at me. "That's not true, you're an excellent fighter,"

"Not compared to you," I disagreed sadly. "You're so far ahead of me, I'll never catch up to you."

"The only advantage I have over you is the Sharingan," he looked away again. "And it's not even a fair advantage. In every other aspect, you beat me."

"It doesn't have to be a fair advantage, that's the Sharingan's whole purpose," I countered. "And that's not the only advantage you have, you're quicker and better at taijutsu than I'll ever be. I might as well be moving in slow motion."

"Yeah, but your ninjutsu kicks ass. It'll always beat my fire style, no matter how hard I train, you'll still beat me."

We were quiet again, both of us absorbed in our own thoughts for an immeasurable amount of time. Finally, I spoke again. "So, it looks like we're evenly matched,"

Kai nodded as a small smirk pulled at the corners of his mouth. "I never thought I'd say this to you but I'm sorry for everything,"

"Me too," I replied once the shock wore off.

"I finally understand why they put the three of us on a team together," he chuckled accompanied by a shake of his head. "So you and I could compensate for each other's flaws and so we could teach Reina how to fight and stand on her own two feet. Those sneaky bastards,"

I giggled back. "And now that we realize all of this, the three of us could be a lethal team now, the triple threat," I laughed at the title. It felt strange being friendly toward Kai instead of hostile; I was going to need to get used to this.

"The triple threat," he repeated with a smile as he finally looked at me again. "We'll still always be moody Uchiha, useless Haruno, and spoiled Uzumaki."

I nodded in agreement, my gut suddenly lurching when I got a glimpse of his smile. The flood of emotion that swept over me almost made me want to vomit. It was like this reconciliation had released a tsunami of feelings that had been bottled up for the past decade, crushing the wall that Kai and I built between each other in a matter of minutes. The more I stared at him, the more I noticed things about Kai that I seemed to have ignored before. His crooked smile made my stomach lurch very time he looked my way and the way he flicked his bangs away from his eyes gave me butterflies. I'd gone from hating Kai Uchiha to having a crush on him in a matter of a week or so; was that even possible?

"You okay?" Kai asked, snapping me back to reality. "You look like you're going to be sick."

I smiled and held my churning stomach; my body was going to have to get used to all of these new feelings, especially toward Kai. "I'm fine," I replied as I scooted closer to him. He raised his brow at my advancement; even his _eyebrows _sent my stomach into an acrobatic act. "Since we're friends now or whatever, can I tell you something?"

"Sure?" he answered timidly.

"Ever since we were little I've had a crush on you but I ignored it because I couldn't get past what a jerk you were," I admitted awkwardly.

"Are you sure you're not sick?" he chuckled as he turned his gaze to the ground as a scarlet hue stained his cheeks.

I smiled in victory and turned my attention to the ground as well; I made Kai _blush, _this was one for the record books. A comfortable lull fell over us as we soaked in the moments, the summer heat being cooled by the waterfall's mist until he spoke again. "How about we try this friend thing first? Is that enough?" he proposed gently, being much more considerate than I ever thought he was capable of.

I nodded, the idea of friends strangely exciting. "That's enough,"

"Okay," he exhaled before smoothly putting his arm around me, a cocky smirk dancing across his face. "I knew I was irresistible,"

I rolled my eyes and shoved him off of the wall, laughing hysterically as he landed flat on his back. _This is enough … for now._

**The End**

**A/N: **I Just Wanna Say Thanks To Everyone Who Read/Reviewed This Story. I Really Had A Great Time Writing It And I Really Hope You Enjoyed Reading It. Please Check Out My Other Stories If You Haven't Already And Keep An Eye Out For New Stories. Thanks Again! Love, Inuyashagrl101


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